I've been running Sprinter on a RAMPS 1.4 control board for my MendelMax since I built it a few weeks ago. This is the most common firmware in use, with the most community support. However there are other firmware options that are faster and more cutting edge, at the expense of having more bugs and a smaller user base. Today I switched to Marlin because I read that it handles acceleration between moves more smoothly, and can draw smooth arcs as well (a much more experimental feature).

I chose this funnel as my test print because the cone and cylinders comprising it cover a range of arc sizes.

On the left we have a print with Sprinter. There is a strong ridge at the layer change point near the left side, and additional ridges on every edge around the model. This print took about 40 minutes.

In the middle is the exact same gcode run by Marlin. The edge ridges are gone, but the layer change ridge is more pronounced, especially on the cylinder at the top. This is much closer to what the original model looks like.

On the right is Marlin with arc gcodes produced by Slic3r. It looks through the model for series of points that look like arcs and replaces them with arcs. This produces an exceptionally smooth model everywhere except for the layer change ridge. There was a mostly unrelated print failure around 70% of the way up, everything above that should be ignored for the purpose of this comparison.

This has been an educational experience. I've learned how to begin configuring a new firmware (Marlin has a LOT more functionality with regards to runtime configuration), and I got a print quality increase as well. Switching away from Sprinter is not for the faint of heart, but I'd advise everyone to try it at least once.

PS: The latter two prints produced progressively less vibration in my printer as well, which should allow me to greatly increase my print speed in the near future

Now that winter is coming to the northern hemisphere, getting up for work means getting out of bed before the sun comes up. In order to help the natural waking mechanism of light, I've decided to hack together a sunrise alarm clock on a shoestring budget.

To put this thing together I used Elco's ShiftPWM Library to control the 24 LEDs. You could go bigger, but I wanted this to all fit into the box.

Personally, I had some PCBs from a previous project that I could fashion to make the LEDs easier to mount.

Everything is hooked up like in the schematic:

The "To SCL" and "To SDA" lines go to the Real Time Clock Module.

The parts are all mounted to the backing board of the shadow display box like so:

Load the program below in and you can set the time on the clock with the following command in serial monitor:

T(00-59)(00-59)(00-23)(1-7)(01-31)(01-12)(00-99)

T(sec)(min)(hour)(dayOfWeek)(dayOfMonth)(month)(year)

You can then set the alarm with a command:

A(00-59)(00-23)(0-1)(0-1)(0-1)(0-1)(0-1)(0-1)(0-1)

A(min)(hour)(sun)(mon)(tue)(wed)(the)(fri)(sat)

The alarm will attempt to be done with the cycle at the appropriate time set, so it will start with the UV LEDs and move through the progression fading the LEDs in and out as indicated in the arrays at the top of the program.

Frost both sides of the glass for good distribution of light, then cut away the side of the box so that you can power the Arduino with it mounted inside the box.

This is a very sped up version of the alarm sequence looks like this... the lights at the beginning are part of the power up sequence of the Arduino.

Arduino Code... fast and dirty, I'm going to clean it up so that it works with alarm times at the borders of the day eventually...

Thanks to Freeside for a access to some of the parts and some soldering space and time.

I am coming to freeside tonight. I should be there around 7.30pm I finished the hardware build of the new dual extruders from makerbot. Also their new interface kit build. I'll be installing them and doing the software work, calibration and hopefully a print or new design for the dual extruders before the night is up. Since I am going to be in the space anyway, I am going to open this to anyone who wants to attend. If you are bored or free try to stop by...

We will have some free freeside (free^2side?) keychains at our 3d printing presentation at Dragon*Con. In the meantime you can download the stl of the keychain hereand a few of our logo stl files as well.

We will be having an open house/mini 3d printer meetup this Friday (August 19) from 4-8 pm. All are welcome to attend. We will be taking apart an UP printer for documentation/reverse engineering as well as tweaking a few others. Come on by and get your geek on!

Freeside Atlanta would like to invite everyone in the Atlanta area to a free introduction level class on open source 3D printing. Topics will include:

Basic Printer Operation

Various 3D printer designs including reprap and MakerBot

OpenSCAD modeling software

Common print materials

So if you an just getting interested in 3D printing, or are already involved in 3D printing, stop by Freeside this Thursday night at 7:30pm. People already familiar with open source 3D printing are also encouraged to come and help teach or just meet fellow enthusiasts.

One of the costs of running an inkjet based 3D printer is that the cartridges have to be replaced on a regular basis. The Z400 and Z402 use Canon BC-20 ink cartridges which are readily available.

There are currently two known ways of making these cartridges ready for the printer.

The first method is to cut the cartridge in half, remove the foam inside, cut a Blue Falcon BD-50 Centrifuge tube in half, and epoxy it and a small O ring to the reservoir at the bottom of the cartridge. This is how the cartridges that are sold by Z Corp are made.

An alternative method is two drill two holes in the cartridge, epoxy down some type of barb, and flush the cartridge. This is the method I am currently using in my Z402. Click below for full instructions and a few pictures of the process.

Miss all those Tuesday meetings because you don't live close and hate downtown traffic? Here's your chance to come check us out on a weekend!There will be plenty of members hanging out at the space doing stuff that interests us. (3D printing, metal pouring, etc). Stop by and hang out.All day Saturday (11Jun).

Bring projects to show off, or projects you'd like some advice on. Bring friends and friends of friends! Weather permitting, there will be grilling.

This event is FREE and OPEN to the public. Like all of our events, donations are appreciated. Children must bring their parents in order to attend.

Freeside is a great space, but our kitchen could be charitably described as "needs work". The countertops are old, difficult to keep clean, and just generally bad. What the heck, we're a hacker space, right? Lets hack some countertops.